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Whew! My friends and I survived the hunter pace yesterday! It actually wasn't too cold, and I was able to find some thin merino wool socks at the local tack shop!

Now....that hunter pace was CRAZY! The terrian was a little dangerous and I'm a little upset with the hunt staff member who emailed me saying the terrain was nothing but smooth rolling hills an that I wouldn't need to put shoes on the mare (I emailed specifically to ask if there were rocky areas that required shoes before we signed up). The first option was to either cross water and jump a fence about 15 feet after it, or go around to a water crossing that was nothing but sharp sheet rock in the water and the entrance and exits were really steep inclines with large sharp rocks. UGH. The mare I rode is quite green to jumping and had never jumped something that high (it was about 2'9"), but it looked safer at the time than potentially bruising her feet at the other water go-around. WRONG! She jumped halfway over and stopped, and I got pitched on my head! Woops. Ended up safely crossing the water instead. We had to climb some STEEP mountain sides, and then go down one mountain side that was way too steep and totally slick....it was dangerous and lots of riders had to get off their horses to make it down safely.

In the end, if I would have known what the terrain was really going to be like, I don't think we would have gone. But, at the end of the day, we survived and had a good time.

Rode this morning! Only about 20 minutes, but at least I squeezed it in. He was L-A-Z-Y today! Must remember to bring my cell phone and crop out to the pasture with me. Cooled him off with a walk in the woods after - next milestone is actually getting up the nerve to ride him down there.

Right now, Rico is not my winter riding problem, Inky is. He gets so upset when I take Rico out that he's completely drenched in sweat by the time we're done, and I don't have time to cool out 2 horses!

I have to play catch up...Took new horse out Foxhunting a few weeks ago, thought I was going right back out 3 days later but had a sinus headache thing. Have managed to ride a few days a week, rode yesterday and this morning!

Grass ring, no lights, but the luxury of riding pretty much whenever I want. Wait, that really leaves me no excuses does it?

Sounds like everyone is riding (even if short rides like mine today) and not freezing yet! Love reading everyone's trials and tribulations to keep riding this winter!

As mentioned I only did a 15-20 minute light hack today but I was glad to just get that in today. She had Sunday & Monday off and got new shoes today - YEAH!

I hope to ride at least tomorrow or on Thanksgiving if I can sneak a ride in. I go for a lesson on Friday and then leaving my mare at my trainers for a week & half as my SO and I are going on a cruise!!! So excited about vacation and heading for warm weather in the Caribbean! We are going riding while in Jamaica...

Great lesson tonight on my favorite schoolie. Pretty warm, so no need for the ear warmers and toe warmers. Took a while to cool the horses out afterwards, but it was so nice and relaxing. I'm supposed to ride my TB on Thursday b/c the barn staff is off for the holiday. He's on full training board since he's allowed to canter now and we are expecting some happy bucks.

I rode Sunday and cantered! He was doing so well trotting that I went for it. Did a couple circles each direction and hopped off happy

Didn't get to ride Monday. Today, I went out to ride and he was a nut case! There was a storm rolling in. So I lunged him and then made it into the barn before the nasty came. I hand walked him through the storm. There was no way I was getting on that. I didn't even cross tie him.

I see the chiro tomorrow so I won't ride. Maybe Thanksgiving morning before festivities.

I almost rode last night but things came up at the last minute and I couldn't go. However, I brought all my gear with me to work today and the second I am free, I'm racing out there! I can't express how much I love full care. If I was still at the partial care place, tonight I would be dealing with a nasty stall to clean and buckets to scrub before I could even think about riding. But now I can just go out to the barn and enjoy my horse. Pure bliss

No seriously, I guess for me is when the ground freezes, although we have a field that usually stays pretty soft (a tilled up field thats not to deep) that I can ride in if I have to.

My thing is, I rode during winters as my job, (rode racehorses for over 25 yrs), so my motto now is "If I'm not getting paid, or not having fun, I'm not doing it." I admit though, once I am in the tack I'm a happy camper!

Just found this and I am totally in. I am already suffering from the winter "But its so cold and dark" excuses. I work in the afternoon/evening so I have to really push myself to get up early and go for rides if I want to ride. The past two weeks I have been having a rough time doing it, but I always feel good once I get there, and always hate myself if I talk myself out of going.

I have to say that cold weather does affect my riding. I'll take my horse out for a gallop in the snow covered field and then realise I'm actually jeapordising my safety because my neck scarf is preventing me from turning my head in a full range of motion, which is affecting my balance ever so slightly, and my thighs are going numb which is affecting my leg position and grip, and my thinsulate gloves are letting my reins slip, and I'm riding like a sack of potatoes on a horse who really just wants to pull me off over his head like an old tee shirt and run for it.